Kamal, family own assets worth Tk 221.75cr

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and his family members own assets worth Tk 221.75 crore, according to tax returns he submitted to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday.  

Kamal, his wife and two daughters submitted tax returns and completed all other related procedures on the first day of the tax fair that started in the capital’s Officer’s Club Dhaka.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tax return was submitted on behalf of her by former tax commissioner Siddique Hosen Chowdhury. This was the first time a representative of hers submitted the tax return at the fair.

Asked about the amount the prime minister paid in income tax, NBR Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said they could not disclose the amount as it was her personal issue.

According to the disclosure, the finance minister owned assets worth Tk 68.22 crore. His taxable income stood at Tk 2.63 crore and he paid income tax Tk 91.46 lakh for the current fiscal year.

His wife, Kashmiri Kamal, owned assets worth Tk 50.98 crore and paid tax amounting to Tk 71.29 lakh.

His daughters, Kashfi Kamal and Nafisa Kamal, owned assets worth Tk 41.13 crore and Tk 61.41 crore and paid income taxes amounting to Tk 2.82 crore and Tk 2.61 crore respectively, according to the finance minister’s disclosures. 

In total, the finance minister and his family paid a total of Tk 7.06 crore in income tax.

“I paid income taxes for the first time in 1970, depositing 560 rupees to the national coffer,” the finance minister said while inaugurating the fair.

He said he has had tax records dating back 1996 and since then he has paid Tk 51.72 crore in income tax.

The minister called upon all to pay income taxes regularly as the government needed money to run the country. He also urged people to inform him if they faced harassment from any tax official over tax issues.

Telecom giant Grameenphone paid Tk 150 crore and Islami Bank Bangladesh Tk 100 crore in tax at the fair as well, according to the NBR chairman.